Do you have a question for a diving doctor?

[Grace]

I'm a complete freediving newbie and I've set myself a challenge of a 100ft freedive to raise money for the MS Society, as my Mum and Auntie are both sufferers. I've received a really friendly welcome from DeeperBlue and have been learning lots from previous forum threads.

It turns out I need a freediving medical so I contacted the London Diving Chamber: Decompression chamber / Hyperbaric chamber for divers with the bends / decompression illness, London Recompression & Hyperbaric facilities - The London Diving Chamber.

They've kindly waived the fee for the freediving medical so long as I write about it on my blog: 100 ft Freedive Challenge for the MS Society

So...do you have any general questions about freediving that you'd like to put to a doctor specialising in diving?! I'll try to put a few to him at the end of the medical and will update you with the answers .

 

[Simos]

Hi Grace - I'd love to be proven wrong but I'd guess that your average doctor that specialises in SCUBA diving won't necessarily know much about freediving, unless they are interested and have looked into it. You can test them by asking them if they have a DB account

Where a knowledgeable doctor can be useful in my opinion (over and above what information you could get here) is not so much for general freediving/physiology questions but more for a specific medical condition that someone might have and how that would/could be affected by freediving.

Maybe we can do a small experiment - why don't you post your general questions here too and then we can compare the answers you get from some of the most experienced DB members with those of the doctor

 

[Grace]

Hi Simos,

Great idea!

I'm a little apprehensive about asking "silly" questions, but I'll trust that everyone understands that the increasingly technical vocabulary of freediving can be a bit confusing to a beginner!

Here are two questions that have been playing on my mind:
1. I've been using Table A and know that it is intended, with regular repetition, to increase my body's ability to tolerate higher levels of CO2. How does training using Table A achieve this in physiological terms?

2. I'm also interested to know what physiological changes occur in the first 6 months of training, and whether they are easily measurable.

I'll now open the floor for some more complex questions!

 

[Tony Babowicz]

IS there a psychiatrist that I could talk to...
We're all crazy if you have not figured this out by now.
Seriously, good luck on your 100ft challenge.

 

[Simos]

I'll have a go at #1 with my (very) limited knowledge for now:

The main thing you are training with the tables is your head your brain gets used to the sensation of high CO2, you teach your body to stay more relaxed with rising CO2 and hence consume less o2 and produce less co2. You learn to take contractions and relax through them.

Not sure how much else happens: a couple of things that spring to mind is that you might also be training your kidneys to release more bicarbonate to counter the acidity of the blood. There's also the more obvious effect that the spleen has by releasing oxygenated 'blood'.

So apart from the mental/relaxation element and a couple of effects above, not sure how many other things change.

From other biological processes, whenever there is a high level of 'something' in the body over time the body sensors that detect this something become less sensitive to it and need a higher level to produce the same effect. I wonder if this also happens when training for co2 tolerance.
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[Grace]

Thanks Simos, really appreciate your reply . So a few short-term physiological effects occur but it's mainly about teaching the mind to relax through the sensations of breath-holding caused by higher levels of CO2, therefore using less O2 and extending static times. I understand what you mean about the body's "sensors" becoming less sensitive to CO2 buildup. I wonder how these sensors relate to the variation in individuals' symptoms before BO. I know that in some instances BO can occur without any warning whereas in other instances the person experiences a variety of warning signs beforehand. Do we know why this is?

I didn't know about what happened to the spleen and kidneys.

Thanks Tony (I think?) for your good wishes. I'll be sure to let you know when I make it down there .

I guess I'll keep quiet for now and just keep reading . I know I've got lots to learn.

 

[Simos]

Hi Grace - I was just guessing and going by a few things I read in the past. Not sure if any are true lol I wouldn't say they are necessarily short-term though (depends what you mean).

I also suspect that with Freediving training (not just tables) blood composition changes so that more o2 can be carried by the blood etc. It's a bit like blood body-building lol

Again I might be completely wrong about the blood body-building effect but if you are starting now I might be interesting to have a blood test and compare the results to say a couple of years down the line and see how they compare. I suspect, like body building, diet is very important so it's not just about training
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[adelito]

If you could ask if diving while taking Adderall is safe, I just recently started taking it for Adult ADHD.

 

[Grace]

Sure, I'll ask.

My appointment isn't until 5 May 2011 though, and I guess it might depend on the dosage, so if you want an answer before then you could always email them via their website or call them during their working hours - contact info here: Contact Form, Contact London Recompression & Hyperbaric facilities - The London Diving Chamber

They'll advise you for free, and I don't think you have to be within the UK .

 

[adelito]

Thank you very much for the information/ oppurtunity